I'll Catch You
by neversaygoodbyetoklaine1
Summary: My first fanfic! Young!Klaine. Tree climbing. Yeah.
1. Chapter 1

"... Are we going to fall?"

Blaine rolled his eyes for what felt like the hundredth time that afternoon. He looked over to his friend who was clinging to the thickest branch of the tree he could reach. Blaine had a strong urge to laugh, but he looked so frightened.

"Kurt, it's safe, I swear. I come up here all the time," he sighed, keeping his face straight but his voice suggested he was suppressing a giggle.

Hearing the smile in his voice, Kurt shot his eyes over to his friend.

"It's not _funny_, you know, Blaine! ... I can't believe I let you talk me into this..." He grumbled under his breath, arms still fixed tightly around the tree branch.

Kurt Hummel and Blaine Anderson had been best friends for as long as they could remember, and in their nine year old youth, that was all that mattered; each other and their friendship. They would have play dates almost every day and had formed such a strong connection over the years, one they were even sometimes teased about at school. Though the name calling and teasing rolled right off their backs, seeing as they always had one another to lean on when they were having particularly bad days.

Blaine had a leg on either side of the tree branch they were sitting on, and looked completely at ease up there, while Kurt looked down nervously every few seconds, trying to gulp down his fears.

"Kurt," Blaine looked at him. "Kurt, look at me."

Kurt didn't look up.

"Kurt, do you trust me?"

Surprised at the unexpected question, Kurt raised his bright blue eyes to his friend. "Of course I do, Blaine. You know that already."

"Then you know you're safe," He grins reassuringly, his smiling eyes locked on Kurt's wide, anxious ones.

"O-Okay..." Eyes flickering from his friend back to the tree he was desperately clinging to; he shakily extracted one arm from around the tree, but continued hugging the branch with his other arm. His free hand found Blaine's and he took it for more support, clutching at it firmly.

Blaine smiled gently at him, his eyes lighting up happily and he squeezed his friend's hand comfortingly, "See?" He enquired with a great smile, "It's not so bad!"

Kurt glowered at him, but seeing his best friend's eyes light up so brilliantly in a firework smile had his glare disappear, only to be replaced by his own small smile.

"Yeah... Well... You promised that when we get down from this... this _thing_, then we can have our tea party..."

Blaine laughed softly in the way that made Kurt's tummy feel full with butterflies.

"Of course! Well, we can have the tea party now, if you'd like?"

"_If I'd like_," Kurt repeated and stared at his friend with wide, incredulous eyes. "Blaine, of course I'd like to! I've been waiting forever to have our tea party!"

"We had one yesterday..." Blaine pointed out.

"Yes. Well... I-I didn't get to dress up as Ariel yesterday!" Kurt huffed, his eyes locked on the tree as he tried to slowly move away from the branch.

Blaine watched him for a moment before swinging off his own branch and landing gracefully back on the ground, his hands out to steady himself before turning and grinning back towards Kurt.

Kurt closed his mouth, which had fallen open at the impressive landing of his friend, with a snap. "Show off..." He grumbled to himself, eyes still searching for a way down from the damned tree. "Uh, Blaine?" He called out to him, biting his lip nervously.

Dusting himself off, Blaine raised his eyes to Kurt, who was looking around apprehensively toward the ground, "Mm?"

"I... I think I'm stuck..."

"Stuck?" Blaine frowned. "How are you stuck? Just jump down!"

"Unfortunately not all of us are able to master the true tree climbing skills of one Blaine Anderson and do back flips and whatnot off branches," he pouted before adding. "Also I'll rip my clothes."

Blaine sighed, walking a little closer toward the tree, trying to reason with him. "Kurt, you can't stay up there all day... You're going to have to jump down if you want this tea party!"

"But... I'm scared..." Kurt fret, looking on the verge of tears. He bit his lip painfully hard, not wanting the tears to spill down onto his cheeks. What was that word Blaine had taught him? It was only the other day... Oh yes. _Courage_. That was the one. He hadn't known what it had meant at the time, but Blaine had done a good job of explaining it to him. He supposed this is what he had meant about using courage.

Kurt squeezed his eyes shut, trying to channel as much courage as he could into him, gripping the sides of the tree branch. He blinked one eye open, staring down at Blaine fearfully, "I'll fall!" He whimpered, his voice coming out much shakier than he would have preferred and tears falling freely down his slightly flushed cheeks.

Blaine took another ready step forward, holding out his arms and gazing up at Kurt with wide, earnest eyes, "I'm here! I'll catch you! I promise."

Kurt watched him, his face twisted in worry and fear before he closed his eyes once more and let himself fall from the tree. He fell with a _thump_ into Blaine's strong, little arms, relief washing over him that he hadn't broken a bone, or god forbid, gotten a tear in his new designer jacket.

Alas, Blaine's little knees couldn't hold both of their weight and they fell to the ground in a tangle of arms, legs and unruly curls. Blaine having broken the fall for him, Kurt shot up, looking down at Blaine underneath him with wide, startled eyes.

"Blaine! Are you—," he cut himself off when he saw Blaine shaking with giggles and his face lit with a grin.

"And Anderson takes the fall, but he claims he's fine and is—oh, he's sitting up!" Blaine yells in a mock commentator's voice, his face splitting into a wide grin.

Now it was Kurt's turn to roll his eyes. Blaine could be so _boyish_ sometimes, but... Kurt liked that about him. He turned his eyes back to his friend whom he was still sitting on and smiled softly.

"Are you okay?" Blaine asked him, all traces of joking vanished from his face; instead there was an unusually sincere tone to his voice that Kurt knew Blaine could take on in a matter of seconds if he wanted to.

"I'm fine," Kurt replied simply, dusting off his jacket and standing up, offering a hand to Blaine to help him up off the dirty ground as well. Blaine took it gratefully, standing up and gazing at Kurt with that smile he knew so well.

Blaine kept a tight hold to Kurt's hand as they begun walking towards the house, "At the tea party, I want to be Eric!" Blaine informed him.

Kurt giggled, "Blaine, you're Eric _every_ time!" He shrugged lightly, "But alright, as long as I get to be Ariel like I said."

Blaine nodded in agreement as they reached the back door of the Anderson household, though he stopped in his tracks, one foot already in the door. He leaned over and kissed Kurt quickly on the cheek. His cheeks were a little warm and he mumbled, "You're my best friend, Kurt."

Astonished by this surprising gesture, Kurt's hand immediately flew to his cheek, a pink blush creeping up on his own face. Blaine had never done that before.

"You're my best friend too, Blaine," he said with a genuine smile, gazing up at his friend as he turned and entered the house.

Kurt smiled to himself as they walked through the house. He didn't know if there was a God up there, but just in case there was, he sent a quick 'thank you' up to Him.

_Thank you for giving me my best friend in the whole wide world - someone who will catch me when I fall. _


	2. Chapter 2

Three years later found Kurt and Blaine in the same situation; inseparable best friends who knew each other like the back of their hands. Though not much had changed over the previous few years, Kurt was still a fraction taller than Blaine – a fact that had Blaine relentlessly teased over, though Blaine laughed along in good spirit – and they still looked at each other like the other held the world in his soft, little hand.

"... I wanted to show you this."

Twelve year old Blaine Anderson clambered up the familiar rickety, wooden ladder, leading up to his old tree house. He purposely missed the third, broken ledge, knowing it would fall off at the slightest touch.

"Watch your footing," he warned quietly to his friend with a smile as he followed him up.

Kurt Hummel's porcelain face poked up from the ladder as he also scrambled up the unsteady handles. He climbed in beside his best friend, looking around curiously at the dusty, wooden floorboards and the cracked ceiling. He wrinkled his nose.

"It looks like no one's been up here in years!" He commented in distaste, sneezing softly as some dust tickled his nose.

"That would be because no one _has_ been up here in years," Blaine replied, also taking in the red and white checked curtains that draped lazily across the open window and the low-hanging cobwebs that he brushed away impatiently with his free hand, the other clutching Kurt's tightly.

"Is it safe up here?" Kurt mumbled, almost in a whisper as his wide eyes searched around the old room as if he were expecting a ghost to jump out with a loud, "BOO!"

"Sure!" Blaine nodded, opening a creaky door that led into an even dustier and smaller room. "It may look quite precarious, but it's actually quite stable. It's old, but I think it has a few more years in it," he remarked, giving Kurt a side-long glance, accompanied with a small smile.

Kurt loved Blaine's vocabulary, it simply astounded him. No other boys Kurt knew could speak in such an intelligent manner, far beyond his years. He supposed living in a private school environment did that to a person. Kurt nodded to himself, secretly a little relieved, but he continued, "That's not what I meant."

Blaine raised an eyebrow quizzically at him.

"Like... Are there snakes up here?" He asked in a hushed voice, eyes wide and anxious.

Blaine giggled loudly, tugging on Kurt's hand to lead him into the second room and shook his head. "No, don't be silly. I don't doubt that there are a few spiders, though," he teased, grinning over at him.

Kurt's hand immediately flew up to his hair where a cobweb had tickled so recently, emitting a quiet shriek and clutching dreadfully at Blaine's arm.

Blaine snickered under his breath and gripped Kurt's hand tighter in return. He cast his eyes around at the newly entered room, taking in the old rocking chair in the corner that was coated in several layers of filth, the trunk full of what Blaine recalled to be a mixture of dress ups and ancient toys – ones which Kurt decided upon exploring until Blaine told him it was probably full of hairy spiders and he snatched his hand away – and a smaller, dustier guitar case than the one Blaine usually carried around.

"My old guitar!" Blaine exclaimed excitedly, tugging on Kurt's hand as he ran over to it, opening it eagerly.

A cloud of dust and dirt rose from the case as Blaine clicked it open and Kurt turned his face away, coughing and spluttering.

"I'd forgotten it was up here!" Blaine's eyes were alight as he pulled the guitar onto his lap, strumming it casually to see if it were in tune.

Kurt eyed the ground cautiously before dusting off a patch and sitting down cross-legged in front of him. Brushing his now dirty hands together, trying to rid them of some of the grime, he gazed expectantly up at Blaine who was sitting on his old trunk, fiddling with the guitar's strings. "So can you play anything?"

Blaine swept his eyes over at him, chuckling lightly before he glanced back to his guitar and positioning his fingers over the frets. "I can. But whether you want me to or not is the question..." He teased, strumming idly.

Kurt rolled his bright blue eyes, repressing a grin as he nodded. "Of course I do!" Despite the many years of their friendship, Kurt had only heard Blaine play twice, and in those moments he had decided that he'd like to hear more of it.

Feeling only slightly nervous, Blaine strummed in tune to the song he had picked, and the song was not at random. He had heard it the other day and had been meaning to play it to Kurt, whether by singing it to him, or merely letting him listen to it through his iPod. Regardless, with butterflies in his stomach, he continued playing...

_Kiss me out of the bearded barley  
>Nightly, beside the green, green grass<br>Swing, swing, swing the spinning step  
>I'll wear those shoes and you will wear that dress.<em>

_Oh, kiss me beneath the milky twilight  
>Lead me out on the moonlit floor<br>Lift your open hand  
>Strike up the band and make the fireflies dance<br>Silver moon's sparkling  
>So kiss me<em>

Kurt's eyes widened remarkably. Wha—this song. He knew this song. What was Blaine implying? He couldn't—What. Kurt was having a hard time putting two thoughts together; his mind was fixed on the lyrics that kept tumbling from Blaine's lips...__

_Kiss me down by the broken tree house  
>Swing me upon its hanging tire<br>Bring, bring, bring your flowered hat  
>We'll take the trail marked on your father's map<em>

Kurt's breathing hitched in his throat. Blaine couldn't possibly be singing what he _thought_ he was singing... Could he? __

_Oh, kiss me beneath the milky twilight  
>Lead me out on the moonlit floor<br>Lift your open hand  
>Strike up the band and make the fireflies dance<br>Silver moon's sparkling  
>So kiss me<br>_

He could feel a smile creeping over his porcelain features and he bit his lip gently to stop from gaping, or doing anything equally foolish.

Blaine's eyes were locked on his guitar. He refused to look up at Kurt until he absolutely had to, a little afraid of the negative response he was predicting. Oh god, oh god, he really shouldn't have done this. It was a stupid idea, Kurt probably didn't even like him like that, they were just friends, and now he was going to ruin everything. With a little dejected sigh, he forced himself to continue playing...

_Kiss me beneath the milky twilight  
>Lead me out on the moonlit floor<br>Lift your open hand  
>Strike up the band and make the fireflies dance<br>Silver moon's sparkling  
>So kiss me<br>So kiss me  
>So kiss me<br>So kiss me_

As Blaine strummed the final note, the sound echoing briefly around the tiny room before it drifted into nothingness, his eyes flickered downwards to where Kurt was sitting before him, gazing up with the same expectant, bright blue eyes as before.

Blaine cleared his throat slightly, eyes searching helplessly around the room before they flashed back to Kurt who was still staring at him. "So, um, that's it..." He said weakly.

Kurt licked his lips nervously, eyes looking around the room as if searching for something to say before he leaned up on his knees so he was eye level with Blaine.

"Is that... Do... Is that really how you feel?" Kurt asked softly but firmly, looking directly into Blaine's eyes. His voice was much calmer than he had expected it to be, as his heart was pounding faster than a V8 in his chest.

Kurt didn't seem repulsed, and he wasn't running out of the tree house screaming either, so that was a start, Blaine thought. His breathing pattern a little shaky, he nodded silently, not trusting his voice.

Kurt's eyes widened like saucers and his breathing caught in his throat a little. He took a deep, steadying breath before managing, "So kiss me..." His eyes flickered up to Blaine's to gauge his reaction and Blaine's eyes were as wide as his.

Nerves pulsing through him, and his heart feeling as though it were about to beat out of his chest and skip contentedly out of the cubby house, Blaine nodded again, lowering himself off the trunk and onto his knees. Kurt, also sitting on his knees, leaned back a little, shuffling back on the balls of his feet so they were sitting at eye level.

Blue gazed into hazel as they stared at each other, both trying to calm down the extreme nerves that were coursing through them and Blaine leaned forward a little, parting his lips as he spoke in a whisper, "Are you sure?"

Kurt nodded shakily, but his decision was definite. His eyes flickered down to the lips that were inches from his own and made another split decision that was not entirely thought through and would have made him kick himself if it had not turned out the way it did.

Kurt closed the distance between them, pressing his lips gently against Blaine's parted ones. To say fireworks erupted inside the both of them in that moment would have been the understatement of the year. Kurt felt warmth from the sweet sensation taking place between them spread from his fingertips, right down to his pink, little toes.

Blaine's eyes fluttered shut as he felt the butterflies in his stomach erupt into cheer and dance around like it were New Years Eve.

Both pairs of eyes closed, the boys kept their lips pressed together softly for a moment, Kurt bringing his hand almost hesitantly up to brush by the other boy's cheek. At the slight touch, Blaine pulled away ever so slightly, his breathing a little heavier than before.

"That... That was nice..." Blaine admitted in a hushed tone, his cheeks a faded pink.

Kurt breathlessly nodded his agreement, his heart still racing a million miles an hour in his chest and his own face a little flushed. "Maybe we can do it again sometime..."

Oh my god. Why did he say that? Why, why, why. Kurt internally slapped a hand to his forehead, his cheeks flaming red as Blaine raised his eyes to him, looking incredibly amused, tinted by faint surprise.

Kurt turned his eyes, full of sheepishness, to his friend, who giggled softly. He couldn't help but giggle in return, his humiliation lifting slightly with each passing moment and every quiet chuckle.

"I'd like that..." Blaine concluded softly.

Hazel met bright blue and they held each other's gazes, nervous smiles upon their lips as they stared, completely content in their own secret haven.

**A/N: Please review! I'd love to know what you think! **


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